“Never hide the fact that you suffer from PD. Wear this fact as a badge of honor.”
—ASH, PWP
If you’re living in a home with someone with Parkinson’s, you’ll soon discover that various hazards around the house can make life difficult for them. Fortunately, there are some easy changes you can make to improve their safety.
To begin, start with smaller changes like decluttering your home and getting rid of potential obstacles—like scatter rugs and long cords on the floor. Creating clear pathways through your home can make mobility so much easier for someone with Parkinson’s. The more open spaces you can create between furniture, the better.
Following are some more specific tips to help you make your home safer and “Parkinson’s-proof.”
• Add more lights around the house. This can make it easier to navigate at all times of day. Consider touch- or voice-activated lights if these will be easier for your loved one to turn on and off.
• Create a contrasting pattern on the floor to help your loved one get from A to B more easily. In my mom’s case, she had a friend cut out white squares (eight-by-eight-inch vinyl with an adhesive back) and stick them to the floor to create a pathway between the kitchen and the bathroom. When Mom needed to get from the kitchen to the bathroom and had trouble walking, she found that looking at the contrasting white squares on the floor helped her brain focus more on getting where she wanted to be. You can also try adding stripes (about a foot apart) to the floor to help with walking.
• Get rid of bathmats that may slip and add a nonslip mat to the shower or bathtub.
• Install grab bars or safety rails beside or in front of the toilet. You may also want to look into getting an elevated toilet seat to make standing up easier.
• Install a horizontal grab bar along the sidewall above the tub and a vertical grab bar on the wall opposite the faucet to help with getting in and out. If using a shower stall, install grab bars or portable handles on the shower walls for balance when showering, as well as on the wall beside the toilet.
• If your bathroom has carpet, remove it. Depending on your budget you may also want to consider making the bathroom wheelchair accessible (e.g., widening the door, lowering the sink, building a shower that you can roll into with a chair).
• Put phones or emergency alarm systems in every room.
• Put night-lights in sockets to make it easier to navigate at night.
• Install a pole that stands beside the bed to help your loved one get in and out of it more easily. If you can’t install a pole because your ceiling is high, you can install a wooden arm or grab bar on the wall. These devices can also help your loved one turn over in bed.
• If the bedroom is currently located a long way from the bathroom, you may want to consider moving it to a closer room to make getting to the bathroom that much easier (especially in the middle of the night).
• If it’s in your budget, buy a bed with a control for raising and lowering its height.
• To avoid slipping and falling, get rid of scatter mats. Also, it is much easier to get around on hardwood or tiled floors than on carpet, so you may want to consider replacing carpets.
• Consider buying adjustable recliners or chairs with straight backs, firm seats, and armrests. This will make standing easier.
• Install railings along the walls and hallways to help with balance and to prevent falls.
• You may find that having an office chair on wheels in the house is handy as well. If you have hardwood or tiled floors, you can use this as a makeshift wheelchair for someone to push your loved one from point A to point B.
• Keep counters free of sharp knives. One time when Mom had a lot of dyskinesia, she accidentally knocked a knife off the counter and it braised her leg on the way down. As a caregiver, be aware of anything that could potentially be an accident waiting to happen in the kitchen!
• If it’s in your budget, consider significant renovations such as ramps, stair lifts, and wider doorways.